BLACK PAELLA

Today, I had the luxury to stay home and cook for Sabrina. In between work and doing other stuff, I managed to squeeze this in. She loves Black Paella. I normally serve this with fried calamari rings with aioli.

You can also cook this at home. It basically takes less than 30 minutes to cook this. Follow the instructions and I think you'll be able to get it right even on the first try...

Here we go....

Place 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a small paellera.  Saute chopped onion on medium heat until fragrant and translucent. 

Add about 1 Tbsp chopped garlic.  Saute until fragrant. Make sure not to brown the garlic. This will make your paella taste bitter.

Add 1 cup of rice. I used Japanese rice. Saute for about 3-5 minutes.

Add this... black ink paste. You can purchase this in gourmet delis. I used 1 1/2 Tbsp because I like my paella really deep black in colour.

Stir black ink with the rice. Stir well so that the rice will be evenly coated with the black colour.

Here's what it should look like after stirring for a minute or so.

Use chicken or seafood stock for the liquid. The  proportion is 2 1/2 cups of liquid for 1 cup of rice.

Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.  

Cover with a foil. Bring the heat to low and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes.

Here's the finished product! After 20 minutes, this is how it will look like. If you want the color to be darker, you may add another 1/2 tbsp of black ink.

You'll know when the paella is ready when the rice is cooked through so don't be afraid to taste it.  Cook it a little longer if you want the bottom part to be a bit toasted. When it's ready, remove the pan from heat and keep it covered until you're ready to serve this.

That's it! It's really easy. Well, I'm about to eat lunch with Sabrina already. We're ready to fry the calamari.  Happy lunch to everyone!!!

MARMALADE KITCHEN

I technically have 30 days to go! I'm so excited but at the same time pressured. So many things to do with so little time. All I can say for now is that I'm up for the challenge!!! Here we go.... I will try to document this as much as I can. 30 days 'til opening!!! 

This is what I'm sure of. I've finally chosen the logo for my new baby...😄

BBQ BEEF RIBS IN BALI

We ate in a restaurant in Bali called IIGA WARUNG. They specialize in barbecue ribs. The ribs came with rice topped with some fried shallots. It was really good. The ribs were tender and doused in BBQ sauce. The sauce was sweet with a little bit of spice.

We also tried their spring rolls and mee goreng. The mee goreng was good too.

I liked it that they would serve a plate of prawn crackers together with their special BBQ sauce while we wait for our orders

We were so hungry I think we had 3 plates of prawn crackers!

BALI'S CRISPY DUCK

Here's one place that I truly enjoyed in Bali...Crispy Duck. Our tour guide told us that duck is very popular here in Bali so we had him take us to a restaurant that has very good crispy duck.

The name of the restaurant is Bebek Tepi Sawah.

We just ordered the crispy duck and it came with rice and string beans cooked with coconut milk.

I truly enjoyed the crispy duck and it was really crispy. Even the bone was crispy. As is, it's good already. I tried it though with a sauce made with shallots, tomato, and I think lemon grass and chopped garlic and oil. The other sauce was sambal. Then they also have the sweet soy sauce...kecap manis. It was good too.

I enjoyed my meal with freshly squeezed lime juice. Yummy!

Across the restaurant too is a building filled with everything you could think of for pasalubong! So after your meal, you can walk across to do some souvenir shopping.

Fun, fun fun!!!

BRUNCH AROUND THE METRO

Brunch is a meal that I soooo love! Here are some places that I've tried lately and some places that have also become my favorite.

The one that I tried recently is Wildflour. It's in the Fort area , Ground floor at the Net Lima Bldg, 4th Ave. corner 26th St.

That morning when I went, we ordered Waffles with Banana and Walnuts with Maple Syrup. It was really yummy! I think it would've been better if they offered aside of bacon or breakfast sausage.

 The other dish that we ordered was the Croque Madame. It's probably one of the more popular dishes that people order there.  It's a toasted ham and cheese sandwich with bechamel sauce and topped with an egg...fried egg. It's very rich but it's worth all the calories.  

 On another occasion, we also ate at Wildflour in the evening, here are the dishes that we ordered from the menu...and you can also order them for brunch...

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Freshly toasted bread with butter is served while you wait for your order...

This is what I ordered...chicken meatball sandwich. I didn't particularly like it. Maybe it was just me. My other friends said it was ok.

My bestfriend Marivic ordered this....their beef burger. It was good! I don't really eat burgers but this one was good!

The burger came with the fries.

Here's another place where that I like going to for dimsum... Summer Palace at Edsa Shangri-la Hotel. Here are some of the items that we order when we're there....

Siomai

                                 BBQ Pork Buns                                                      Shrimp and Mango Roll    

Taro Puff

Beancurd Roll with Shrimps

There's also another dish that I really like in Summer Palace and that's the stir fried Ho Fun with XO Sauce. Ironic that I can't seem to find a photo of it so you better take my word for it. If you're not happy with it, blame the chef that made it hahaha.  It should generally come out good!

Here's another place where we go for Brunch... Mammou. The Eggs Benedict was ok but I didn't particularly like the bread.

This is what I enjoyed...their French Toast with breakfast sausage. The serving was huge and I guess 2-3 can share!

Another place that I tried is Cafe 1771 along San Miguel Ave at El Pueblo.  I ordered the Eggs Benedict. It was ok but it wasn't my type. I expected an english muffin instead of a pandesal for the bread. Overall though, it will do.

Here's something interesting on the menu...Huevos Rancheros... it was ok but I think it could be better. My friend finished it though.

I think this is still my favorite place for Brunch... Apartment 1B... Here are some dishes that I also like to order there.... Pasta Bolognaise.

Eggs Benedict...probably one of the best in Manila and worth the calories! I crave for it occasionally and I'm so happy that they already have a branch at Rockwell.

There are other places that I go to for some Filipino menu too...when I'm in the mood to eat rice, I go to Mary Grace. I like ordering their Longanisa with garlic rice. I also like the Tapa of Dome, and if you want to try an assortment of Longanisa and sausages, you may try Zoricho along Silver City near Tiedesitas. That's worth trying also.

When I find new interesting places, I'll make sure to let you know....'Til next time... 

STREET FOOD IN BEIJING

In Beijing, in the Wangfujing area, there's a strip where they sell street food. Every day, as the sun begins to set, the people set up the food in the stalls and they start preparing the food that they will sell for the evening.  Here are the photos of what they sell there.  Some are really interesting. I can only take photos and not try.  I couldn't afford to have a bummed stomach as my days were always full for sight seeing, I'm sure you know how the public toilets are there and I wouldn't want to be looking for one every hour or so. Ok back to the food story... check out some of the labels! :-)

 Silkworm

 Crayfish

 Octopus

 Skewered fresh fruits

 Skewered scorpions

 Skewered grasshoppers

 I would've loved to try this! Steamed crabs!!!

 Noodles with assorted meat and vegetables cooked on the flat top

 Assorted dumplings

 Noodle soups

 Caramelized skewered fruits

 Which one would you try here???  I think I'll go for the snake :-)

 Starfish and I think stinky tofu

baby shark :-( how sad... then below are photos of the other stalls that they have on the strip.